peters



(11. (mm 8 E. K. PAGE.

NAIL. No. 325,859. Patented Sept. 8. 1885.

.UNI'IED STAT S PATENTIOFFICE.

Jare elevations showing adjacent sides of thev Figs. 4 and 5 are views showingmodt' 5 fieations in the form of the teeth, and Fig. 6 I shows an elevation of the nail in common use. I

man.

ful Improvement in Nails, of,.w h 1 EDWIN rAoafoFwoRoEs'rER, MASSACHUSETTS.

' .NAYIL.

$PECEEICATIOIT forming part of Letters Patent No, 325,859, dated September 8, 1885.

I Application filed October 25, i884; (No model.)

To aZFwhom it mag/concern: m

Be it known that I, EDIVIN'K. PAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcesterand State of Massachusetts, have invented a'n and uselowing is a' specification contai U clear, and exact-description ot ut H's companied by drawings, in which? {Figure lrepresents a perspectivefv ew nail embodying my invention. Figs Z' and;

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views. 7 I 5 My invention relates to the wedge-shaped nail in common use by builders,ordi'nar-ily cut from a plate, and two of its sides parallel,with the other two sides slightly tapering; and it has for its object to produce a nail which may be driven indiscriminately with either its parallel or tapering sides at right angles with the grain of the wood without splitting; and it consists in forming a series of cutting-teeth on the two opposite and tapering sides of the nail,

' so that when the nail is driven with these sides parallel with the grain, the cutting-teeth will sever the grain and form a passage for the nail, preventing the splitting of the wood; and myiuvention further consists in the formation of the nail with such cutting-teeth and with parallel sides between the cutting-teeth, so that the back of the teeth may be supported, and so the wood will press more closely against the sides of the nail after it has been driven.

In Figs. 4 and 5 are shown forms of teeth f g, which may be made by swaging or by cutting with a sharp cutting-tool in a similar way to that by which the teeth are cut on files. Figs. 1, 2, and 3, however, represent a nail having what I deem a preferable form of cutting-tooth, and embodying both the first and second parts of my invention, and in which the increased thickness of the nail at A is obtained by a series of steps, a, forming the cutting-teeth, the sides 12 [2 between each of the steps a being parallel, the increase in the thickness of the nail between the point at B and the section beneath the head or at A being formedby regular graduations instead of byeontinuous and tapering sides, as shown in Fig. 6, which isthe method now employed in the cut nailsin common use. These steps a maybe made at right angles to the parallel sides b, or they may be out under, as shown at c 0,; In either case, whether the angle formed e an acute or a right angle, it will serve, when he nailis driven, to cut off the grain restagainst the serrated side of the nail and iform a passage forthe nail and removing the ainma sed by driving a wedge-shaped nail,

l 6 which is liable to result in splitd. I tltqtdo not project beyond the parallel ,sidesgb vimmediately "behind and above: thein the odis allowed to rest against thefsides b and,il 1o the nail more firmly than when-the teeth are formed as shown in Fig. 5. The sides I) also support the cutting-edges and prevent their being broken off by the resistance of the wood.

The cutting-edges may be formed at right angles to the nail, as shown at d, but I prefer to form them at an angle thereto, as at 11, every alternate tooth being placed at an opposite angle, so that the action of the tooth upon the wood as the nail is driven will be a drawing cut, and I also form the teeth aso a tooth' will be brought opposite to one of the at a parallel sides b, instead of bringing the teeth opposite each other, which increases the strength of the nail.

I am aware that nails have been heretofore made with corrugations or projections to cause them to hold more firmly in the wood; also that barbs have been formed upon the sides of nails for the same purpose; also that projections have been formed arranged spirally to the axial line of the nail for the purpose of producing a spiral motion to the nail While it was being driven. features, broadly.

I am aware of the Patent No. 243,603, to Newton, but. the nail shown in that patent, instead of cutting-teeth adapted to sever the grain of the wood when the nail is driven, has a series of notches at the corners only, which do not project beyond the plain surfaces of the nail and consequently cannot act as cutting-teeth. I am also aware of Patent No. 206,515, to \Vires, in which a nail is shown in I do not claim any ofthese circular cross-section and having a series of shoulders extending entirely around the nail, with the sides of the nail between the shoulders parallel, while in my. improved form of nail the shoulders are only formed on the tapering sides of the nail, the remaining two sides of the nail being straight or parallel to each other, allowing the wood to press closely against them and the nail to be more firmly held in the wood. Nails are also shown in said patent to Wires having shoulders formed on two opposite and tapering sides of the nail, but these shoulders are formed for the purpose of compressing the material into which the nail may be driven in order to prevent the nail,after it has once been driven,from working inward. The invention is an improvement iu shoe-nails, and the shoulders perform the function of the head in ordinary nails, which in the shoe-nail is omitted, and the shoulders are so formed as to compress the leather. Neither do I claim, broadly, the formation of shoulders uponthe side ofa nail, but

What I do claim, and desire to secure Letters Patent, is

,1. A nail substantially rectangular in its cross-section, having two of its opposite sides parallel and the remaining two sides taper-, ing or wedge-shaped, and having on said tapering sides teeth so formed as to present cutting-edges in the direction of the point of the tooth for severing the grain of the wood and prevent splitting, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. A nail substantially rectangular in its cross-section, having two of its .opposite sides straight and parallel, and the remaining two sides having a series of cutting-teeth formed thereon, presenting their cutting-edges toward the point of the tooth, the thickness of said nail being increased at each tooth, and the spaces between the cutting-teeth forming parallel sides, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. A nail having a series of steps or shoulders whereby the thickness of the nail is increased by gradations from the point to the head, forming steps or shoulders on the side of the nail, the spaces between the shoulders being placed opposite the shoulders upon the opposite side of the nail, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A nail having a series of shoulders or steps whereby the thickness of the nail is in creased by gradations from the point to the head, each step or shoulder forming a cuttingtooth for severing the grain of the wood, and geach of said teeth placed obliquely across the sides of the nail, as and forthe purpose set forth.

EDWIN K. PAGE.

Witnesses:

RUFUs B. FOWLER, K. H. ELLIS. 

